Michael Tapferin
Michael Tapferin is a member of Gjallarhorn who has the rank of Specialist-Captain, currently works for the Inspection Bureau, and is the latest heir to the Tapferin family of the Seven Stars of Gjallarhorn. An original character of G2BattleConvoy's own design, and the protagonist of the fanfic titled "Knights of Gjallarhorn." Personality Originally, Michael was shown to be polite in his attempts to befriend the other residents in the Room, even if he seemed a bit too prideful in his heritage as a descendant of the Seven Stars. He is also shown to be arrogant at times, attempting to shut down threats through his own methods, even if they're not the most advisable. However, it is shown that he may be undergoing a lot of stress due to his expectations to eventually become his family's representative for the Seven Stars in his future, which may explain his rash actions. Despite this, he has been shown to be very observant and often has a dry wit. Pre-Room History Pre-Knights of Gjallarhorn Born into the prestigious family of the Seven Stars, Michael has a lot to live up to. As a child, he would hear stories from his father about how, when humanity was faced with extinction at the hands of the Calamity War, a brave group of young knights led by the infamous Agnika Kaieru would rise up to end it for good. As he studied for military duties at Vingolf after he finished school, he became aware of the technology used by Mobile Suits and would study them in great detail as the original weapons used in the Calamity War. This would help fuel his motivation to be a worthy member of Gjallarhorn and hope to one day fulfil his childhood dream of being a hero, like his ancestor, Sir Wilhelm Tapferin. During Knights of Gjallarhorn (Chapters 1-5) At some point in Michael's life, he befriended McGillis Fareed and Gaelio Bauduin, the respective heirs to their families. They would practically form to become a well-oiled trio, especially when they were needed for assignments. They were recently assigned to inspect Martian peacekeeping efforts led by Major Coral Conrad, but had suspicions of how the man carried himself when they arrived at Orbital Base Ares. As a result, Michael eventually was sent down to the surface to see if there was any evidence of unsanctioned operations, and to Michael's surprise, they were. It turned out that there was a clandestine operation to eliminate a mercenary base, and while investigating, he witnessed a fight between a veteran Graze pilot and an ancient, but powerful Gundam-Frame. With this information in hand, they were about ready to arrest Coral Conrad, but while heading to the nearest town to ask some locals, they ran into a group of Martian citizens, one being given particular interest by McGillis. The boy's name was Mikazuki Augus. When Coral informed the inspection team that a VIP was planning to head to space, Michael decided to head up into space along with the Mobile Suit pilots meant to assist in an interception operation. Not long after they engaged, the Gundam-Frame defiantly defended the shuttle against the Graze squadrons, managing to kill Coral before engaging McGillis and Gaelio in their customised Schwalbe Grazes. After briefly fighting a shoddily repaired Graze, Michael, in his customised Graze Ritter Arsenal attempted to pierce the Gundam-Frame's cockpit, only to be foiled, and the result allowed the rogue group "Tekkadan" to escape. History at the Room Not long after, the Specialist-Captain would find himself in a strange forest, near a strange cabin in the woods. From there, he would run into Marcia Shyneet as well as Cloud Strife, befriending the former, and royally pissing off the latter (admittedly unintentionally). Before long, he got involved in investigating the theft of someone's jewellery, an act which indirectly stopped reality from being torn asunder. This was because the jewellery was, in fact, a collection of shrunken planets and stars belonging to a sentient galaxy called Oriana, and they became somewhat good friends. Enforcer of Justice After being informed that the Room had a tendency to attract some rather dangerous threats, he would take steps to ensure he had certain defensive methods to meet them with (especially seeing as he didn't have his Mobile Suit with him). The first weapon he would claim as his own in the Room was a sidearm left by one Jack Raut, a person wearing a gas-mask who was revealed to be a psychotic madman obsessed with vengeance against "The Invisible Man." The ensuing conflict between the two resulted in Raut's death by Michael's own hand, and this was just one of the things that Cloud would have issues with regarding the redhead blue-blooded soldier. He would eventually get caught in a feud against Majora, a demon who apparently knows Link. The demon once tried to kill Michael by proxy, but the stubborn Gjallarhorn soldier actually survived. He would eventually gain a simple rapier as a gift from Marcia and would add it his overgrowing arsenal. On several occasions, he would use simple combat armour and contemporary firearms until he acquires a watch from Lune Zoldark that would allow him to summon a suit of Powered Armour based on his personal Graze Ritter Arsenal. One of those instances would be getting involved in a conflict between Artemis Fowl, who planned to acquire some faeries, and LEPRecon, a police force who usually ensure that modern humanity does not discover their existence. Working with Cloud and Holly Short, they narrowly averted the use of a destructive weapon that would have obliterated the room. In that time, he would befriend Holly, as he helped her escape from captivity. Contacting friendly forces Sometime later, Michael eventually builds a transmitter to send a signal out to any friendly allies that may be able to assist him, and the result is the arrival of Julieta Juris, a member of the Arianrhod Fleet of Gjallarhorn in service to Lord Rustal Elion. She's not the only one, however, as it turns out that the ship that brought her to the Room's planet belonged to Iok Kujan, a fellow member of the Seven Stars. This would add a significant advantage to Michael's abilities and would increase Gjallarhorn's presence on the Room's planet. Defending a powerful friend. The arrival of a genetically engineered being capable of killing sentient galaxies called Moya caused problems when she eventually tried to kill Oriana. She coerced Saitama into helping her do the deed (which is ironic, as Michael originally pointed Saitama that way to fight her), resulting in even Oriana's avatar bleeding out. Michael then took the matter into his own hands, by chasing her down and foiling her plan, with the assistance of Julieta. Of course, that wouldn't be the end of it. "Kora, the All-Consuming" Soon after that incident, another sentient galaxy showed up, this time a pink to contrast Oriana's blue. Unlike Oriana, this Kora had a rather large amount of disdain for organic lifeforms in general, and this led to some concern from Michael. It was revealed that this Kora essentially took the name of a death-god that Moya's people had chronicled, and she sent an asteroid to that planet in retribution for Moya's people chasing Oriana off. Afterwards, the two celestial sisters got into a fight, which ended with the intervention of Moya. And it was this moment that Michael would put a plan into action. Using his connection to the Arianrhod Fleet, Michael asked Iok to bring some powerful weapons called Dáinsleifs, over to the Room, and joined forces with Moya in an attempt to bring an end to the planet-consuming death-god. But this action had great consequences. Michael Tapferin, Attempted Godkiller A week after Michael had made his request for the Dáinsleifs, the plan was ready to be executed. Moya used her powers to weaken the pink galaxy, and in orbit, Iok had deployed several Grazes fitted with Dáinsleif railguns. Once they were in position, they fired massive spears into the weakened galaxy, severely crippling Kora. On the ground, though, Eires had caught wind of Michael's questionable actions and shot him, twice. They weren't the only one to protest this action. It turned out that Koata Rider has befriended Kora after her little family feud with Oriana, and he was really upset at the revelation that this man in a fancy uniform had just killed a really good friend of his. Nevertheless, Michael was adamant that his actions were necessary, even though Allen decided it was a good idea to get Laura on his case. After explaining his reasoning, Laura let him go, warning him that the justification of "for the greater good" had a rather slippery slope. Michael was adamant that wouldn't be the case unless it was absolutely necessary. He decided to confess to Oriana, whose only reaction was to command him to get out of the Room. When it actually emerged that Kora had survived Michael's attempt on her life, she dared him to "finish the job," but the presence of both Oriana and their mother, Maria, deterred him from doing so. At that point, Michael was considered an enemy of the family. The dangers of Super Saiyans When Caulifla and Kale arrived at the Room, he was somewhat concerned about the power that they possessed, and he was irritated especially with Caulifla's flippant attitude on it. His fears would come to pass when a powerful entity named "Perfect Cell" arrived, and started to cause problems within the Room. Eventually, it culminated in a fight between Buu and Cell, which further escalated when Koata, Homura Akemi, Julieta and Michael joined forces with a squadron of Arianrhod Fleet Mobile Suits led by Iok in an attempt to stop their attacks. While the plan ultimately worked, there were still tensions between the Nebula family and the aristocratic soldier. When Moya ultimately learned of Kora's survival, she hoped to finish the job, to which Michael immediately called her out on, especially as he was trying not to show any more hostility towards the family. Eventually, though, he was surprised to hear that Moya had essentially been "taken in" by the girls, as it was revealed that Moya's home planet had effectively exiled her for not completing her mission. Since then, there has an uneasy peace between all parties involved. The Chaos of Infinity When Infinite came knocking around, Michael instantly recognised the potential threat of the Chaos Emeralds, notably when Ovi Robotnik dug one out somewhere outside the Room. When he intercepted her, Infinite intervened and prevented him from securing the Chaos Emerald. When Julieta gave chase under his orders, it was eventually revealed that Ovi was somehow Infinite's creator, and Infinite's intervention caused his own creation to reach fruition. Not long after the incident, Michael met Misha, a social media executive and the two immediately became fast friends. At one point, he and Julieta had to rescue Misha from Infinite, who was apparently harassing her for a yet unknown reason. At that point, Michael has also become aware of a cyan-skinned demon, who was apparently behind this latest attack. Thus far, her motives are yet unknown to the Gjallarhorn soldier. Abilities and Equipment Abilities * Military Training: Michael is trained in the use of several weapons and military equipment. He also has the ability to defend himself in hand-to-hand combat, although this skill is not as finely tuned as his skills in piloting a Mobile Suit. * Mecha Piloting Skills: As a member of Gjallarhorn, an organisation that employs the widespread use of Mobile Suits, Michael is also trained in this field of expertise. It's been noted that he has apparently gained enough skill to warrant the use of a unit that would normally be attributed to the Orbital Knight Corps of the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet. Equipment * Personal Communication Device: A Gjallarhorn-issued phone normally given to Gjallarhorn officers, Michael uses this to coordinate efforts with allied officers. It is capable of phone calls, text messages and accessing the Ariadne network. * Sidearm: A 9mm magazine-fed pistol 'acquired' from Jack Raut. * Rapier: A modest rapier given as a gift by Marcia. * Armour-Summoning Watch: A device designed to summon a suit of armour around him if he deems he needs one. Designed by Lune Zoldark, there are currently two suits he can use. ** EB-06ra/MoST-PAr Ritter Armour: A powered armour based on his personal custom Graze Ritter unit, it is relatively basic in its operation. It served as his main armour until he upraded to a more versatile armour. Lacks beam weaponry. *** Multiple Spectrum Head Sensor: A multi-purpose sensor array meant to assist in identifying targets. Useful in detecting unknown energy signatures. *** Kinetic Assault Rifle: An automatic rifle that's a scaled-down variant of a Graze's rifle. Capable of being wielded one-handed and carries about 60 rounds per magazine. *** Knight Blade Broadsword: A large broadsword intended for use in melee combat, that's usually stored on the hip when not in use. *** Shoulder Munition Cannon: A shoulder-mounted weapon that fires heavy shells in a semi-automatic fashion. Intended to be used against armoured targets. *** MLRS Pod: A 6-slot missile launcher that fires explosive missiles. Useful for medium-to-long range bombardments. ** FA-78-TB/MoST-Par Thunderbolt Armour: The result of Project: Thunderbolt, the Thunderbolt Armour is the second set of Power Armour built by Lune for Michael. More armoured and heavily-armed than the Ritter Armour, it is based on a Gundam prototype used in the One Year War's Thunderbolt Sector Battle. *** Multi-Spectral Sensor Suite: An updated version of the Ritter Armour's sensor suite. *** Twin-Barrelled Beam Rifle: A large beam rifle wielded on the right arm, this weapon fires super-highly concentrated particle-beams to melt through armour. *** Arm-Mounted Missile Launcher: A multi-barrelled missile launcher mounted on the left arm, loaded to fire salvos of missiles with the intention of staggering enemies. *** Backpack-Mounted Beam Cannon: A heavy beam cannon mounted on the Thunderbolt Armour's backpack, it has the ability to fire heavy beam blasts, or fire a blast similar to certain Mega-Particle Cannon setups. *** Backpack-Mounted Cluster Missile Pod: A 6-Slot MLRS weapon that fires missiles capable of deploying blankets of sub-munitions. *** Micro-Missile Racks: Multiple body-mounted racks capable of firing multiple salvos of micro-missiles, intended for wide-arc saturation. *** Shields: Riot shields capable of deflecting multiple forms of attack, the Thunderbolt Armour is equipped with four of these, two of which are placed over the arm-mounted weapons, and two which are held by manipulator arms installed on the backpack. *** Beam Sabers: Handheld devices designed to generate blades of magnetically-influenced plasma intended to serve as a melee weapon. The Thunderbolt Armour has three of these. Relationships Friends * Marcia Shyneet: ' One of the first people Michael has met, he has kept his friendship with Marcia fairly standard. Notable for giving him the gift of a fairly simple rapier and helping him out on a few occasions with her alchemic expertise. * 'Lune Zoldark: ' Michael befriended Lune after she was heard mentioning Mobile Suits. From there, he would eventually enlist her help in crafting suits of armour that would give the firepower of Mobile Suits without the disadvantage of their massive size. Michael gets frustrated that Lune often hands out her armors as if they were candies. This is best exemplified when he learned that Lune helped out Ovi by creating the Egg Dragoon. * 'Julieta Juris: Michael treats Julieta with the respect afforded to a valued soldier, as she is a member of the Arianrhod Fleet under the command of Lord Rustal Elion. As a result, he values her opinion, even if she gives him derisive comments. The two have been working together frequently whenever a threat needs to be confronted. * H.E.R.B.I.E * Franklin Benjamin Richards * Misha: ''': Michael seems to believe he may have inadvertently garnered romantic attention from Misha as he has "saved" her from danger, unaware of the fact that Misha is planning to take his soul. '''Neutral * Caulifla: 'Michael has some issues regarding her arrogance and her abilities, but tends to not get involved with her antics unless it's necessary. * 'Kale: '''Michael hasn't interacted with Kale much, so he doesn't have much of an opinion of her. Enemies * '''Oriana: Pretty much hates his guts for "killing" her sister Kora. * Allen: Hates him for killing one of his best friends. * Kora: Hates him for shooting her up with a fleet of Mobile Suits. * [[Eires Nada|'Eires Nada']]: Hates him because he killed Kora. Gallery Scan 0012.jpg|Michael's celebration of Marcia's graduation party Trivia * Michael is G2BattleConvoy's first character as far as RPing goes, and has surprisingly become a competent villain in his own right. In fact, he has been classified as both a Knight Templar and a Pragmatic Hero. This is no surprise, as Gjallarhorn are the antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. * Michael's Graze Ritter Arsenal is a modified Graze Ritter with shoulder-mounted weaponry to complement the Graze Ritter's standard loadout. * His surname, Tapferin, is an altered form of the German word Tapferen, which means "brave," or "courageous." * Michael also shares a name with Archangel Michael of Biblical mythology, the patron saint of soldiers. This is surprisingly appropriate, given the startling regularity of which he has faced demons in some form, whether they be denizens of Hell or from other worlds. * The avatar used to represent him is a redheaded version of McGillis Fareed's character profile. * Michael has a tendency to utter in German. * Michael is also the only Original Character that G2BattleConvoy has played in the FG. * He is also the only normal human character to be able to land a near-critical hit on Kora, even if he had assistance from an Arianrhod Fleet Mobile Suit squadron possessing technically-illegal weapons and Moya. Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Human characters Category:Alive characters Category:Villains Category:Gundam Category:FG only Category:Mecha pilots Category:Anti-Villains